If You Loved Me
by Boofeh
Summary: I could love you if you let me. Riku/Sora.


Riku plonked down into the seat with a heavy sigh. What a night. The harsh lights of the dressing table burned at his corneas, but he focused on the mirror, watching his heavily made-up reflection stare back. It was hard to believe that he was looking at himself and not some hideous werewolf - the makeup team had really outdone themselves this time.

His face had been painted white, fake silver fur had been glued onto his chin in a grotesque goatee and a prosthetic dog nose had been fastened over his own nose. Two furry, silver dog ears had been glued over the tips of his own ears – Riku turned his head sideways to get a better look. His silver hair, which usually fell past his shoulders, had been teased to fluff out in a birds nest that would take hours of pain to comb out. Still, Riku thought he looked terrifically terrifying. And now he was about to ruin it all.

Gingerly, he plucked off the prosthetic dog nose, cringing as he peeled the glue from his face. Placing it down on the table before him, he couldn't help but smile at his ridiculous reflection – his creamy nose stood out against his painted white face. The fake dog ears were next, joining the nose on the table. Finally, the goatee was gone and Riku was able to scrub at his face with a damp cloth, carefully removing the white paint.

Squirting a glob of moisturising cream onto his fingertips, he massaged the cream into his eyelids and eyelashes, cleaning away the eyeliner and mascara. Riku hated mascara, he really did, but the makeup crew had assured him it was essential in making sure his eyes appeared under the harsh spotlights. And since the publicity shots had turned out okay, Riku was willing to believe them. But still, he thought as he sighed at his own reflection, getting rid of the stuff was a pain. Especially if he got cream in his eyes.

Luckily for Riku, his costume involved gloves, so he had avoided having to paint his hands white. He tried to be thankful as he picked up a brush and tackled his knotted hair, but the burning sensation in his scalp cut down most positive emotions. All he felt was an overwhelming tiredness and irritation – Riku just wanted to go home to his bed and sleep.

"Riku!"

Riku smiled, feeling his bad mood slip away. He glanced at the reflection of the doorway, spotting a massive bunch of roses. Grinning, he turned around in his seat.

"Glad you could make it." He hummed.

The bunch of roses twitched as the person hiding behind them laughed. Riku stood up, crossed the room and took the bunch from a pair of tanned hands. He pulled the roses away, revealing a short, grinning brunette.

"I wouldn't have missed it for the world!" Sora chirped. He pushed past the taller male and crossed the room to the dressing table where Riku had been sitting moments ago. He picked up the prosthetic dog nose and held it to his own face, laughing at his reflection. Sora turned and mock growled at Riku, who could only laugh.

"Yeah, you're better at being scary than I am." Sora smiled as he tossed the nose back onto the dresser.

Riku held one of the roses under his nose, carefully inhaling the delicate scent. "These are gorgeous, Sora. Thanks." He smiled, turning to fetch a vase.

Sora stuffed his hands into the pockets of his baggy jeans and rocked on his heels. "Yeah, and they cost a fortune too, so don't kill them." He warned.

Riku laughed as he placed the roses into a large jar and filled it from the sink in the corner. Good old Sora. "I'll try not to."

Once the jar was full, Riku placed it onto a nearby bench, carefully spreading the roses out without pricking his fingers on the needle-sharp thorns. When he was satisfied, he turned back to Sora, who was holding both dog ears to either side of his head and looking at himself in the mirror.

"You're such a dag, Sora." Riku chuckled.

Sora looked over at Riku, still holding the dog ears over his own, and grinned his best cheesy grin. "And that's why you hang out with me, right?"

Riku had half expected him to say 'And that's why you love me', so it took him a few seconds to comprehend Sora's actual words, snort and turn back to the flowers. Close call.

"So what did you think of the show?" He asked, not looking up from the roses. He heard Sora cross the room and dump himself on the couch.

"I thought it was brilliant. You looked so scary!" He laughed "That howl of yours sent shivers down my spine."

Riku laughed too. That howl had taken many full moons and many hours of listening clips of wolves howling to perfect, and he was proud of the result. He sat back down in front of the mirror and carefully inspected his face for any leftover traces of makeup. He met Sora's eye though the mirror.

"And the story?"

"Kind bland, I thought. Kind of cliché with the whole werewolf-falling-in-love-with-human-girl story. Though I liked the twist at the end where she turned out to be a werewolf too. Totally caught me by surprise. And your acting was pretty top-notch." Sora smiled, watching Riku scrub at a spot under his left earlobe, where he had missed a glob of white paint.

"But you enjoyed it?"

"I enjoyed it very much. Best two hours of my life."

Riku laughed, tossing the cloth back down onto the table. "Thanks again for coming down."

Sora shrugged and grinned. "No problem. I had fun. And I got to go backstage, so I think it was totally worth it."

Riku paused, frowning. "Yeah, about that. We're not actually supposed to have friends back here, so don't tell anyone you were here, okay?"

Sora paused. "But Selphie's husband came backstage too, you know." He frowned, sulking. "He showed me how to get to your dressing room."

Riku shrugged. "Spouses are allowed, and I suppose parents are too. But friends are banned." Seeing Sora's irritated face, he chuckled. "Lame rule, I know, but that's the way it is. I suppose it's to stop us from having a party back here or something."

Sora thumbed his chin thoughtfully. "Well, I don't think I could pretend to be your dad, but I could pretend to be your husband, right? That way I could come back here as often as I wanted."

Riku cracked up, laughing until his gut hurt and he was bent over double. When he finally calmed down, he wiped the tears of mirth out of his eyes and straightened up in his chair. "Yeah, Sora. Great idea. You try it and tell me how it works out, okay?"

Sora was unamused. "You think it's a bad idea?"

Riku coughed and began to brush his hair again, tugging roughly at the knots. "Well, for a start, you and I aren't actually married. So that makes it a lie. Plus, you and I are both male, in case you didn't notice. So, unless we moved to California, we couldn't get married to verify your lie." He smiled, genuinely amused. Sora said the darndest things sometimes.

Sora shrugged. "It'd be worth it though."

Riku cocked one eyebrow. "You'd seriously marry me so you could come backstage after a show? Wow, talk about cheap." He frowned, but he was laughing internally. One of the perks of being an actor; stirring up his best friend was a piece of cake.

Sora blushed and proceeded to squirm uncomfortably. "No, no, that's not what I meant! If I married you it'd be because I love you, not because I want a backstage pass."

Riku had to smirk at Sora's wording. It was the only way to conceal the sudden butterfly assault on his stomach. "Because you love me, hey?"

Sora's blush deepened and he propelled himself to his feet. Hands flailing, he panicked for a few seconds. "No, no, no! I didn't mean that! I meant to use past tense – speculation! Purely speculation! If! _If_ I loved you, I'd marry you! But – but I don't, so I won't! I mean, uhh, if I..." His voice broke and fell silent. Sora scratched the back of his head, chuckling uneasily, his face red as a tomato.

Riku watched on from his chair, eyebrows almost disappearing underneath his hairline. His outsides were calm, but his insides were in pandemonium.

_If I loved you?_

Slowly, Riku pushed himself upright, gently tucking the chair under the dressing table. Carefully, he picked his way across the dressing room to the very red Sora, worriedly contemplating his response. He stopped barely a foot away from Sora, who was now eyeing his shoes.

"'If I loved you'?" He asked softly, his voice deep and smooth. "What do you mean by that?"

Sora glanced up and met Riku's eyes. He cowered and stared back at the floor. "Well, I d-do love you, Riku, in that platonic way friends do." He tried to laugh "You've been my best friend for as long as I can remember, of course I love you platonically. I – I..." A pause "I don't mind of you don't love me in return, though. P-platonically. That's cool, I guess." He stuttered, tugging at the hem of his shirt.

Riku's stomach was doing back flips – an odd sensation he had never felt before. He wondered if Sora could see his stomach bending outwards with the pressure. But he dismissed the nerves in the same way he dismissed his stage fright at the beginning of every show. Only, this would probably be his biggest and most important show yet.

Placing a hand on Sora's shoulder, he murmured softly.

"I could love you if you let me."

Sora's gaze snapped back up to stare Riku in the eye. His face was as pink as ever and his blue eyes were wide with disbelief. "You mean you-?"

Riku chuckled and nodded, letting his hand fall from Sora's shoulder. "Yeah."

Sora cocked his head to one side. "So it's not just me?"

"No."

He paused, staring at Riku in bewilderment. "How long?"

Riku shrugged. "High school. You?"

Sora smiled nervously. "Grade four."

Riku's eyebrows arched in surprise. For the first time, his calm and professional facade cracked and he faltered, revealing that he was just as scared as Sora was. "S-So you'd... let me love you?"

Sora's nervous smile broke open into a grin. "Only if you let me love you in return."

Riku laughed. He reached up and gently cupped Sora's cheek, caressing the skin under Sora's eye with his thumb. Sora leaned into the touch. "Sounds like a deal."

The kisses that followed, while not Riku's first, were some of the most memorable ones he would ever share in his life. Sora was just trying very hard not to float away with pure bliss.

Unnoticed by both males, the door swung open to reveal a thin redhead. Riku's co-star and onstage love interest, Kairi was wearing her costume – a tattered brown dress – and seemed to be struggling to undo the zipper on the back.

"Riku, would you mind –" She stopped dead as she witnessed the scene before her. Suppressing a giggle, she backtracked and shut the door gently behind her. Those two needed some time alone.

Riku never told the stage manager, but after that night it became a regular occurrence for Sora to sneak backstage after the show had finished and 'help' Riku remove his costume

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**LOLBTW:**** I gotta say, the stage is my one true love. But, like how every handsome man comes with an annoying mother, theatre comes with makeup. Many-a-times have I burned my eyes out of my skull trying to remove the stuff. –shudders- **

**So here we have it. More mindless fluff. I hope your inner fangirl/fanboy is satisfied for now. Please review and stuff.**

**Peace.**


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